Find My Way To You Again
by WorkshopsSecret1111
Summary: Caroline wakes up and can't find her wedding ring. In fact, she can't find any of her rings and she is in her childhood bedroom and her mother is telling her to have a good first day of school. Is it real or all just another dream? steroline, fianle au, reset. random and short and needed to cure my steroline heart.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't know what this is but after that finale, I needed something happy.**

She woke up with a sharp intake of breath that hurt so bad that it was like breathing in vervain. She struggled to find a steady breath and with each one, she felt more and more like she was about to have a panic attack. She hadn't had felt like this since the night of the carnival—

No. She wasn't going to think about the night of the carnival because the night of the carnival would lead to thoughts of—

Nope—stop.

She reached her hand out to his side of the bed much like she did every morning. She knew it would be cold, not warmed from his body in years but it didn't stop the hope that flashed through her blood that just maybe her husband had just left for an early run.

But then she noticed her wedding band wasn't on her finger.

She began to panic. She had no intention of ever taking her band off and for it not to be on her fourth finger meant it had fallen off at some point during the night. She felt a rush of anxiety that vampires shouldn't have to deal with.

 _No, no, no, no._

She took her engagement ring off every night because it caught on the sheets, but she didn't take her wedding ring off. It was the last thing he gave to her only for him to die hours later. She didn't even get a full day as Caroline Salvatore before she lost him.

But she had the ring and for the past a hundred years, she had never removed it. It was more important to her than her daylight ring. She was sure she couldn't even remove her wedding band if she wanted to-it felt like it was melded to her skin as a reminder of the love she lost.

But now it was gone.

She felt tears began to accumulate quickly and she jumped out of her bed, fulling intending to pull her sheets back, but then she noticed something else.

Her sheets weren't the sheets she picked out a few years prior when it was time for new sheets and she wanted the same ones as the one they bought when she told him that she would not be sleeping on the same sheets he had sex with her best friend as well as the girl who killed her so many years prior in.

No, the sheets were the frilly pink ones she had back when—

She must be dreaming. There is no other reason as she whipped around and she was stranded back in her childhood room and the fact she wasn't in the boarding house she had resided in long after Damon moved out. She couldn't bare to leave the house that her husband lived in. There was so much of him everywhere and the thought of losing those pieces terrified her. So she lived there, though she hid out most days since it had been a hundred years and she had not aged.

Her rings no wear to be found including her daylight ring.

 _What the actual fuck?_

Why of all things would she dream about her stupid human self?

"Wake up, Caroline. Wake up." She muttered as she paced. This was some kind of sick twisted joke and she wasn't back in high school.

"Caroline! I am leaving! have a good first day!" The door slammed before she even had a chance to rush down to see her mother.

Even in a dream, her mom's voice slammed into her full force and she couldn't breathe. She dreamed about her mom a lot over the years, watching over her as she raised her children.

She knew she wouldn't get to her in time, so she opened her window quickly just to see her mom drive off.

What kind of dream was this?

Because it was a dream, right?

She couldn't think straight and just wanted to wake up. But no matter what she tried, she still stood in her bedroom with her pajamas on.

And not adult I am a mom pajamas, but teenage pajamas.

She counted her fingers and then snatched a book flipping over a to a random page of history.

She could read it perfectly—though at a normal human speed.

Was it all a dream? What was happening? Was her whole life a lie? Some sick dream that felt like lasted a century, but was only a few hours?

But if it was a dream—how did she even dream up Stefan?

No, he was real. He was her husband, her best friend and he was gone. He had been gone for so long, but it still felt so fresh. Elena used to tell her that she wasn't allowing herself to move on in fear of losing what she and Stefan had. She told her Stefan would want her to be happy. But he was what made her happy and the handful of dates she tried to go on, she left with a churning pit in her stomach and her wedding ring burning her skin.

She missed him every day. He was dead and she was never going to have him again.

But the supernatural world might just be trying to straighten out all of the shit that they had gone through.

Or maybe this was just her heaven and she was dead.

Either way, she needed to be at school. Especially today. Because today was the day they met.

—- —-

She put on her best outfit though she was thankful that her fashion sense improved over the next hundred years. She rushed to school and sat in her car wondering if she was the only one that was experiencing the de ja vu or if it was her own mind making up for the loss of her husband.

The people around her didn't think anything weird and she saw Bonnie across the way though she looked younger with her long curly hair. She sat in her car as she watched Bonnie looked greatly confused at her surrounding and she took it as a good sign.

Because if she sees Stefan and he is more concerned with Elena and she has to rehear him say that they were never going to happen, then she might just go stake herself in the heart.

But this version of her was a human so a stake would just be useless. Well, not useless but definitely wouldn't get the job done and just kill her slowly.

But she needed to know even if she would wake up right after she saw him, she needed to see this through. She needed to see him even if it was a dream—even if this was all real and he didn't know she was his wife.

 _Wife._

She didn't even get to be a wife before she became a widow.

She rested her head on her steering wheel as she thought about the last moments with him—or the phone call of her telling him she'd love him forever.

She could still remember in detail every moment leading up to losing him, like a movie on repeat that refused to let her forget any piece of him.

Maybe that love can transcend time and nature.

She tried to steady her breathing, not used to having to actually breathe and the necessity of it. She could do this. She could see him just once and then she would wake up and that would be it.

So she stepped out of the car, kept her head down and started towards the door. She felt like a panic attack was setting in by the time she made it to her locker. She just didn't know what she was expecting and she was terrified she was about to see him and he not know who she was. She stared into her locker when she heard it—his voice.

She hadn't heard that voice in so long. Over a hundred years since she heard his raspy voice. She felt like she could die on the spot because she forgot just how beautiful that voice was. How could she forget his voice?

But she could hear it.

Him.

"Elena—where is she?" She jerked up.

He knew who Elena was, so that must mean—

She turned around and caught his eyes and she felt the whole world had stopped on a dime. Her breathing completely stopped and her eyes grew as he looked over Elena's shoulder at her.

Her heart slowed to a crawl and every nerve in her body had been awoken by his stare.

His eyes flickered with recognition at her. She couldn't move, she didn't even know what to feel or to think.

He knew who she was.

He was here.

And he was so real.

He pushed passed Elena, she no longer important, not stopping as people meandered around him as though not realizing just how important this moment was.

And then he was in front of her and she could smell him and feel him.

"Caroline," he breathed as though he was breathing for the first time.

"Stefan," she whispered feeling tears began to cloud her vision as he pulled her in, and she wrapped herself around him. Her hands were everywhere because she just needed to feel every piece of him. His hair, his face, his arms.

Their lips crushed together and her heart seized at the feeling. She didn't care if people were most likely watching on at why the new guy was making out with Caroline Forbes in the middle of the hallway.

Because he wasn't the new guy but her husband and her husband was kissing her. "I missed you." She cried when they finally pulled away, but their foreheads still touching. Neither wanting to break contact in fear of losing them once again.

"I won't leave again. I am so sorry."

She nodded frantically, tears falling. "Is this even real?"

He nodded back at her. "I am here."

She smiled through the tears he hugged her tightly. "I'm here." He repeated in her hair.

"I lost you." She cried.

He pulled back, holding her face in his hands. "You can never lose me. I am going to love you forever, Caroline Salvatore."

She laughed because she never got a chance to hear him say before he died and she didn't know how badly she needed to hear his voice call her a Salvatore. Because she was, she would be in this life and for every life they got together.

They just got there a little faster this time.

"I love you, too."


	2. Chapter 2

**After people asked me to write more, which I totally didn't expect. I went back and tweaked a few things. I wasn't originally going to write anything else, but since I decided to write Stefan's POV, I had to think about why is Caroline here? For the first one, I purposely left it open, but now I have decided what I want and so I went back and changed and a few sentences to understand how long it has been. No longer has it been a week, so if you are curious, go back and read that!**

 **Okay, on to Stefan's POV.**

When Stefan woke that morning, he knew it was the day. He wasn't sure how he knew, maybe it was the calmness that settled over his body which was the same calmness he got the day Damon showed up. That was thirty years ago, and Damon had told him she had taken the cure.

He knew it wouldn't be much longer before she came home to him.

He had been patiently waiting for over a century and it was an odd feeling. To be at peace, to have no fear of losing that peace, but to still know time was passing with each moment.

He didn't expect it to be like this.

But it was.

And he— Stefan "I am a patient guy" Salvatore— had been waiting for his wife to live her life to the fullest and then to come home to him.

And today was that day.

He remembered the day before watching as she took the cure out of herself. He didn't watch her every day, but more often than he probably should. He saw her happy and sad. He watched as her heart broke as the ones she loved aged around her. She was the only vampire left and one by one—she lost all of her loved ones.

He watched as she told Lizzie her plan. Lizzie was in the last stages of her life and Caroline told her when she was gone it was time for her to go too. The school was in good hands with Lizzie's granddaughters, the next generation ready to help future gifted children.

Caroline's time was done and Stefan knew that immortality was a lot lonelier when everyone you loved was gone.

So morning before, when his stepdaughter took her last breath, Caroline took hers looking not a day over fifty.

It hurt to watch her rapidly age so quickly, but he wanted to be there. He wasn't even sure if she would even remember the events leading up to her death. He wasn't sure if he wanted to remind her.

He just needed to see her.

When he awoke and looked around his room, he saw the picture of Katherine on his desk and he wanted to laugh at the day her peace was.

It was the day they met. They day when he gravitated towards Elena and he had no idea that the love of his life and future wife was just feet away from him. He remembered all of the times he wished he didn't waste so much time on Elena. Caroline was always so close, always in the background and he wished he would have noticed his wife sooner.

He wished he had more time with her.

But then again, he could have if he hadn't killed himself.

But it was the only way for him to forgive himself for the sins he had committed.

And she understood.

But none of that anymore, because not only did he get to see her again, he also got to right the wrongs of overlooking her that first day.

Caroline Salvatore was everything to him and today he finally got to see her for the first time since she became his wife.

They would be reuniting in the same spot they left each other.

In the school hallway.

His wife was so romantic that even her subconscious created a perfect moment.

God, he loved her.

He had a pep in his step as he dressed and all about sprinted down the hallway.

"Stefan, why is it I awoke here this morning instead of in the Gilbert household with my wife?" Damon asked with a grouchy tone.

"Caroline," Stefan smiled.

Damon's face showed recognition. He understood that the peace of Carline would involve all of them and then they would settle back to their normal routine. When Bonnie showed up fifteen years prior, her peace was when Enzo was still around and Damon woke up with a sudden urge to make pancakes.

That was a weird day.

"Blondie's peace is high school?" Damon scoffed at his sister in law.

"Damon, today is the day she and I met. Though, of course, I didn't realize the importance of that at the time." Stefan muttered as he searched for his keys which Damon found on the counter.

"Go get your wife, little brother." Damon tossed him the keys which Stefan caught gracefully before running out the door.

When he showed up the school, he tried his hardest to remember exactly what he did the first time, but it had been so long that all he can remember is running into Elena and later on Caroline trying to talk to him and he shutting her down.

 _Caroline, you and me, it's not gonna happen._

Weren't you in for a surprise on that front?

She came out of nowhere, crashing into his life and changing everything that he ever thought love meant.

She was so unexpected that it hurt when he lost her the first time. The three years without her was torture and he realized he would never be able to love after her. She ruined that for everyone else.

Lexi teased him for way too long after he first got there about she knew all along they were meant to be together. And then smacked him on the head for leaving Caroline without a proper goodbye.

But all of that was in the past. Because today she was home.

He made it into the school and tried to frantically search for her. She wore blue the first time they met, though he had no idea how he could possibly remember that. And honestly, knowing Caroline she is going to wear her best outfit today.

He sees Elena looking extremely confused and he rushes over to her.

"Elena!" He calls out.

"Stefan, why did I have this urge to come to school instead of eating breakfast with my husband?"

God, Damon and her are way too alike when it come to each other.

Were him and Caroline like that?

"Because Caroline is coming home." His eyes never settle on her too busy trying to find her beloved wife.

"Really?" Elena squealed which in reality is morbid since that means Caroline is dead, but hey Elena Gilbert is weird with death. "Have you seen her yet?"

"Not yet. Elena—Where is she?" He asked hoping she would know. He knew his voice came out tight and strained, but he felt like he was going to explode.

But then he sees her. He completely lost his bearings and felt like he was dying all over again. His chest hurt it was pounding so much with a heart he didn't need. His body was tingling with anticipation and thirty feet separating them was too much to take.

"You found her," Elena whispered.

Stefan felt dizzy at the sight of her looking so confused and scared.

God, he missed her. She was so beautiful.

He pushed Elena out of the way, past the people who weren't even really there, just made as stand-ins to not scare Caroline. Though she made up way too many and he was about to punch them if they got in his way one more time.

And then he was in front of her and he had to control himself from not reaching out and crushing her.

"Caroline," he breathed as though he was breathing for the first time.

"Stefan," she whispered feeling tears began to cloud her vision as he pulled her in, and she wrapped herself around him. She felt so warm, so real. His whole body began to relax because they were finally together and they would be for the rest of their lives. There was no chance to lose each other again—ever.

Their lips crushed together and his heart seized at the feeling. He finally had her again, best friend, his wife.

"I missed you." She cried when they finally pulled away, but their foreheads still touching. Neither wanting to break contact in fear of losing them once again.

"I won't leave again. I am so sorry."

She nodded frantically, tears falling. "Is this even real?"

He nodded back at her. "I am here."

She smiled through the tears he hugged her tightly. "I'm here." He repeated in her hair.

He breathed in her scent, not knowing how he went so long without it.

"I lost you." She cried.

He pulled back, holding her face in his hands. "You can never lose me. I am going to love you forever, Caroline Salvatore."

She laughed and it was the best sound he had heard in such a long time. God, she was everything to him.

"I love you, too."


End file.
